I am terribly sorry if this is an inappropriate place to write this (and I feel quite sure that it is), but I cannot think of any other place where this might be more appropriate.

Hearing the news of Junior Seau's death was surprising. To hear that it was an apparent suicide (and for the sake of this commentary, I will assume that the current reports of suicide are correct while acknowledging that they are not conclusive) was shocking. At least, it was initially. After a few moments reflection, though, I remembered that suicide is in fact much more common than most of us I would like to admit.

What has been the most shocking to me, however, is how quickly various commentators have jumped to the conclusion that this was ultimately a result of chronic brain injury. No doubt Junior took plenty of shots to the head. And there is no doubt that he suffered multiple concussions. But I cannot help but be appalled at the automatic connection, as though only some form of brain trauma could possibly cause such aberrant behavior.

The truth is that clinical depression and suicide are far more prevalent than anyone wants to admit or reports. It's much easier to point the finger at some unreachable assailant, instead of accepting the fact that a person may simply no longer wish to live. That concept is so foreign to anyone that is enjoying or even muddling through life that to contemplate someone as successful, popular, and loved as Seau could do it without some external cause is all but impossible. I'm here to tell you that it is not only possible but likely. Concussions are bad. Repeated brain trauma can be deadly. Neither is necessary nor sufficient to account for suicidal depression. And the fact that all of the "experts" are so ready to place the blame on concussions, instead of, oh, I don't know, considering that maybe Junior suffered from severe depression after having to retire from the one profession he's known all his life ... it's just inexcusable.

I am deeply saddened by Junior's death, whatever the cause. I am even sadder that apparently no one in the public sphere (with the possible exception of Marcellus Wiley) has even allowed for the fact clinical depression, as opposed to brain trauma, could be the cause.

You know that stupid Cymbalta commercial? "Depression hurts". It doesn't just hurt ... it kills.

Thanks to unforeseeable collapses from the Ravens and Eagles, three more players were eliminated this week. And that means we have a winner. Congratulations! to Tac Hammer for ten straight weeks of solid picks. Tac, keep it going in the comments of this thread if you like. I, for one, would like to see just how far you can go. Collect your prize pictures below.

Continue reading this post »

Another one bites the dust. Thursday Night Football is upon us, so for the next several weeks I will be putting this post up on Tuesdays. There is a fair chance that I will fail to do this at some point. If I don't get the post up and you want to make a pick for the Thursday night game, feel free to put it in the previous week's post and alert me to it when the new one finally shows up.

Are you happy, are you satisfied? Can you stand the heat? Are you ready, are you ready for this? Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?

Player	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10
Jay Preece	HOU	DET	SD	GB	NO	PIT	DAL	BAL	ATL	PHI
MiamiSaints	ARI	PIT	SD	CHI	CIN	GB	NO	HOU	DAL	PHI
SaintsFanMD	SD	DAL	CAR	NO	NE	OAK	PIT	SF	HOU	BAL
Tac Hammer	SD	NYJ	TEN	TB	NE	PIT	DAL	NYG	NO	GB
Eliminated
AcquiredPanic	PHI	GB	PIT	NO	NYG
alcoholic_insight	HOU	DET	SD	MIN
BlackandGold4ever	ARI	BAL
bondcrash	NYJ	PIT	SD	GB	MIN	OAK	BAL
Breesus Christ Superstar	ARI	DET	BAL	TB	NYG
cajuncommando58	CHI	TB	DET	HOU	IND
Cajun in CA	NYJ	PIT	SD	BUF
coldpizza	SD	CLE	CAR	CHI	CIN	PIT	OAK
Comp	SD	PIT	NYJ
cscmember	CAR
Dang Hu Dat	DEN
Dan Kelly	NE	DET	TEN	TB	NYG
devilducky	GB	PIT	TEN	MIN
Dr.J	CLE
Fat Punk Kicker	TEN
FriarBob	ATL
GRIZZ	NYG
HB-NOLA	CLE
horp the reckless	HOU	–––
hrp	CLE
jeff.l.b	HOU	NO	PIT	BUF
Jimbo03	HOU	DEN	BAL	NO	SD	GB	DAL	DET	OAK
Joseph William Stern	CLE
jray2000	NE	–––
JRogers	TEN
KilnBill	ATL
mattxlegend	DEN
maybetoday	CLE
metryman	HOU	PIT	SD	GB	NYG
mississippisaintsfan	DET	BUF	SD	NO	IND
Northfan	KC
NorthStarr	SD	PIT	PHI
Ponysaints	CLE
saint_chew	DET	BUF	CIN
SaintsFanInIraq	PIT
SAINTS#12	CLE
SarahT	PIT
skinnykinney	KC
snowboard_kat	ATL
sXe hXc AMF	HOU	NO	DAL	ATL	NYG
theprogrammerman	HOU	NYJ	PIT	GB	NO	CHI	BAL
Valmo	NO
VAsaintsfan	KC
Wiedmann	CLE

My fantasy team is named Surf City Saints. Just as the real Saints did, my team lost in weeks 6 and 8 to substantially inferior opponents. This last week was particularly distressing as I would have won had I used the obvious match up advantage and started Nate Washington (against Indy) and benched Welker (against Pittsburgh) - much like our beloved New Orleans Saints failed to take capitalize on the obvious match up advantage of their running game against the Rams 32nd ranked rushing defense. Fantasy mimics reality. Scary. Jay Preece and Tac Hammer also had nasty scares as their picks barely managed to do what the Saints could not. They were rewarded, however, with a nice treat, whereas I was handed a really unpleasant trick (a groin injury for Ryan Matthews - one of two RBs I have that's not on a bye week). Someone needs to give Charlie Brown a rock ... upside his head.

Player	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9
Jay Preece	HOU	DET	SD	GB	NO	PIT	DAL	BAL	ATL
Jimbo03	HOU	DEN	BAL	NO	SD	GB	DAL	DET	OAK
MiamiSaints	ARI	PIT	SD	CHI	CIN	GB	NO	HOU	DAL
SaintsFanMD	SD	DAL	CAR	NO	NE	OAK	PIT	SF	HOU
Tac Hammer	SD	NYJ	TEN	TB	NE	PIT	DAL	NYG	NO
Eliminated
AcquiredPanic	PHI	GB	PIT	NO	NYG
alcoholic_insight	HOU	DET	SD	MIN
BlackandGold4ever	ARI	BAL
bondcrash	NYJ	PIT	SD	GB	MIN	OAK	BAL
Breesus Christ Superstar	ARI	DET	BAL	TB	NYG
cajuncommando58	CHI	TB	DET	HOU	IND
Cajun in CA	NYJ	PIT	SD	BUF
coldpizza	SD	CLE	CAR	CHI	CIN	PIT	OAK
Comp	SD	PIT	NYJ
cscmember	CAR
Dang Hu Dat	DEN
Dan Kelly	NE	DET	TEN	TB	NYG
devilducky	GB	PIT	TEN	MIN
Dr.J	CLE
Fat Punk Kicker	TEN
FriarBob	ATL
GRIZZ	NYG
HB-NOLA	CLE
horp the reckless	HOU	–––
hrp	CLE
jeff.l.b	HOU	NO	PIT	BUF
Joseph William Stern	CLE
jray2000	NE	–––
JRogers	TEN
KilnBill	ATL
mattxlegend	DEN
maybetoday	CLE
metryman	HOU	PIT	SD	GB	NYG
mississippisaintsfan	DET	BUF	SD	NO	IND
Northfan	KC
NorthStarr	SD	PIT	PHI
Ponysaints	CLE
saint_chew	DET	BUF	CIN
SaintsFanInIraq	PIT
SAINTS#12	CLE
SarahT	PIT
skinnykinney	KC
snowboard_kat	ATL
sXe hXc AMF	HOU	NO	DAL	ATL	NYG
theprogrammerman	HOU	NYJ	PIT	GB	NO	CHI	BAL
Valmo	NO
VAsaintsfan	KC
Wiedmann	CLE

Despite warnings, coldpizza stuck with his pick of Oakland last week and suffered the consequences. The disaster that was Monday Night Football claimed two more victims here and countless others that stayed up to watch the end of that abomination. Whoever is in charge of scheduling the MNF games needs to be fired. Nearly all of them have been awful this year. Pick away, and good luck to the remaining five players.

Player	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8
Jay Preece	HOU	DET	SD	GB	NO	PIT	DAL	BAL
Jimbo03	HOU	DEN	BAL	NO	SD	GB	DAL	DET
MiamiSaints	ARI	PIT	SD	CHI	CIN	GB	NO	HOU
SaintsFanMD	SD	DAL	CAR	NO	NE	OAK	PIT	SF
Tac Hammer	SD	NYJ	TEN	TB	NE	PIT	DAL	NYG
Eliminated
AcquiredPanic	PHI	GB	PIT	NO	NYG
alcoholic_insight	HOU	DET	SD	MIN
BlackandGold4ever	ARI	BAL
bondcrash	NYJ	PIT	SD	GB	MIN	OAK	BAL
Breesus Christ Superstar	ARI	DET	BAL	TB	NYG
cajuncommando58	CHI	TB	DET	HOU	IND
Cajun in CA	NYJ	PIT	SD	BUF
coldpizza	SD	CLE	CAR	CHI	CIN	PIT	OAK
Comp	SD	PIT	NYJ
cscmember	CAR
Dang Hu Dat	DEN
Dan Kelly	NE	DET	TEN	TB	NYG
devilducky	GB	PIT	TEN	MIN
Dr.J	CLE
Fat Punk Kicker	TEN
FriarBob	ATL
GRIZZ	NYG
HB-NOLA	CLE
horp the reckless	HOU	–––
hrp	CLE
jeff.l.b	HOU	NO	PIT	BUF
Joseph William Stern	CLE
jray2000	NE	–––
JRogers	TEN
KilnBill	ATL
mattxlegend	DEN
maybetoday	CLE
metryman	HOU	PIT	SD	GB	NYG
mississippisaintsfan	DET	BUF	SD	NO	IND
Northfan	KC
NorthStarr	SD	PIT	PHI
Ponysaints	CLE
saint_chew	DET	BUF	CIN
SaintsFanInIraq	PIT
SAINTS#12	CLE
SarahT	PIT
skinnykinney	KC
snowboard_kat	ATL
sXe hXc AMF	HOU	NO	DAL	ATL	NYG
theprogrammerman	HOU	NYJ	PIT	GB	NO	CHI	BAL
Valmo	NO
VAsaintsfan	KC
Wiedmann	CLE

My apologies for posting this so late. I completely forgot it was Wednesday.
For the first time this season, no one was eliminated. Good job folks. Let's see how long that lasts. All survivors still have at least a few teams in their pockets good for a "sure thing," but the numbers are dwindling. Shame no one took my dare of picking the Giants last week.

Player	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7
bondcrash	NYJ	PIT	SD	GB	MIN	OAK	BAL
coldpizza	SD	CLE	CAR	CHI	CIN	PIT	OAK
Jay Preece	HOU	DET	SD	GB	NO	PIT	DAL
Jimbo03	HOU	DEN	BAL	NO	SD	GB	DAL
MiamiSaints	ARI	PIT	SD	CHI	CIN	GB	NO
SaintsFanMD	SD	DAL	CAR	NO	NE	OAK	PIT
Tac Hammer	SD	NYJ	TEN	TB	NE	PIT	DAL
theprogrammerman	HOU	NYJ	PIT	GB	NO	CHI	BAL
Eliminated
AcquiredPanic	PHI	GB	PIT	NO	NYG
alcoholic_insight	HOU	DET	SD	MIN
BlackandGold4ever	ARI	BAL
Breesus Christ Superstar	ARI	DET	BAL	TB	NYG
cajuncommando58	CHI	TB	DET	HOU	IND
Cajun in CA	NYJ	PIT	SD	BUF
Comp	SD	PIT	NYJ
cscmember	CAR
Dang Hu Dat	DEN
Dan Kelly	NE	DET	TEN	TB	NYG
devilducky	GB	PIT	TEN	MIN
Dr.J	CLE
Fat Punk Kicker	TEN
FriarBob	ATL
GRIZZ	NYG
HB-NOLA	CLE
horp the reckless	HOU	–––
hrp	CLE
jeff.l.b	HOU	NO	PIT	BUF
Joseph William Stern	CLE
jray2000	NE	–––
JRogers	TEN
KilnBill	ATL
mattxlegend	DEN
maybetoday	CLE
metryman	HOU	PIT	SD	GB	NYG
mississippisaintsfan	DET	BUF	SD	NO	IND
Northfan	KC
NorthStarr	SD	PIT	PHI
Ponysaints	CLE
saint_chew	DET	BUF	CIN
SaintsFanInIraq	PIT
SAINTS#12	CLE
SarahT	PIT
skinnykinney	KC
snowboard_kat	ATL
sXe hXc AMF	HOU	NO	DAL	ATL	NYG
Valmo	NO
VAsaintsfan	KC
Wiedmann	CLE

As I mentioned to sXe hXc AMF last week, Eli's suck dial goes up to 11, and he sured had it cranked up at the worse possible times on Sunday. The Giants loss knocked out more players than any other single game this year except Cleveland in week 1. And now we're down to eight. I wonder if anyone is brave enough to pick the Giants over the Bills this week?

Player	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6
bondcrash	NYJ	PIT	SD	GB	MIN	OAK
coldpizza	SD	CLE	CAR	CHI	CIN	PIT
Jay Preece	HOU	DET	SD	GB	NO	PIT
Jimbo03	HOU	DEN	BAL	NO	SD	GB
MiamiSaints	ARI	PIT	SD	CHI	CIN	GB
SaintsFanMD	SD	DAL	CAR	NO	NE	OAK
Tac Hammer	SD	NYJ	TEN	TB	NE	PIT
theprogrammerman	HOU	NYJ	PIT	GB	NO	CHI
Eliminated
AcquiredPanic	PHI	GB	PIT	NO	NYG
alcoholic_insight	HOU	DET	SD	MIN
BlackandGold4ever	ARI	BAL
Breesus Christ Superstar	ARI	DET	BAL	TB	NYG
cajuncommando58	CHI	TB	DET	HOU	IND
Cajun in CA	NYJ	PIT	SD	BUF
Comp	SD	PIT	NYJ
cscmember	CAR
Dang Hu Dat	DEN
Dan Kelly	NE	DET	TEN	TB	NYG
devilducky	GB	PIT	TEN	MIN
Dr.J	CLE
Fat Punk Kicker	TEN
FriarBob	ATL
GRIZZ	NYG
HB-NOLA	CLE
horp the reckless	HOU	–––
hrp	CLE
jeff.l.b	HOU	NO	PIT	BUF
Joseph William Stern	CLE
jray2000	NE	–––
JRogers	TEN
KilnBill	ATL
mattxlegend	DEN
maybetoday	CLE
metryman	HOU	PIT	SD	GB	NYG
mississippisaintsfan	DET	BUF	SD	NO	IND
Northfan	KC
NorthStarr	SD	PIT	PHI
Ponysaints	CLE
saint_chew	DET	BUF	CIN
SaintsFanInIraq	PIT
SAINTS#12	CLE
SarahT	PIT
skinnykinney	KC
snowboard_kat	ATL
sXe hXc AMF	HOU	NO	DAL	ATL	NYG
Valmo	NO
VAsaintsfan	KC
Wiedmann	CLE

Safe picks are not always safe. And going out on a limb early in the season has proven valuable for at least a few players. Week 4 saw the number of undefeated teams reduced to two, the Bills' loss thinning the field here by two. A gutsy pick of a winless team over another winless team failed to pan out for two others. Good luck and keep those picks rolling - to the survivors go the spoils (or something like that).

Player	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5
AcquiredPanic	PHI	GB	PIT	NO	NYG
bondcrash	NYJ	PIT	SD	GB	MIN
Breesus Christ Superstar	ARI	DET	BAL	TB	NYG
cajuncommando58	CHI	TB	DET	HOU	IND
coldpizza	SD	CLE	CAR	CHI	CIN
Dan Kelly	NE	DET	TEN	TB	NYG
Jay Preece	HOU	DET	SD	GB	NO
Jimbo03	HOU	DEN	BAL	NO	SD
metryman	HOU	PIT	SD	GB	NYG
MiamiSaints	ARI	PIT	SD	CHI	CIN
mississippisaintsfan	DET	BUF	SD	NO	IND
SaintsFanMD	SD	DAL	CAR	NO	NE
sXe hXc AMF	HOU	NO	DAL	ATL	NYG
Tac Hammer	SD	NYJ	TEN	TB	NE
theprogrammerman	HOU	NYJ	PIT	GB	NO
Eliminated
alcoholic_insight	HOU	DET	SD	MIN
BlackandGold4ever	ARI	BAL
Cajun in CA	NYJ	PIT	SD	BUF
Comp	SD	PIT	NYJ
cscmember	CAR
Dang Hu Dat	DEN
devilducky	GB	PIT	TEN	MIN
Dr.J	CLE
Fat Punk Kicker	TEN
FriarBob	ATL
GRIZZ	NYG
HB-NOLA	CLE
horp the reckless	HOU	–––
hrp	CLE
jeff.l.b	HOU	NO	PIT	BUF
Joseph William Stern	CLE
jray2000	NE	–––
JRogers	TEN
KilnBill	ATL
mattxlegend	DEN
maybetoday	CLE
Northfan	KC
NorthStarr	SD	PIT	PHI
Ponysaints	CLE
saint_chew	DET	BUF	CIN
SaintsFanInIraq	PIT
SAINTS#12	CLE
SarahT	PIT
skinnykinney	KC
snowboard_kat	ATL
Valmo	NO
VAsaintsfan	KC
Wiedmann	CLE

Another week and another big group of safe picks. That can't last for much longer. Three more players were eliminated this week, at least one of whom probably thought he had a fairly safe pick. So much for the vaunted Jets defense. For those that remain, make your picks below and don't be afraid to go out on a limb - you'll have to do it sooner or later.

Player	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
AcquiredPanic	PHI	GB	PIT	NO
alcoholic_insight	HOU	DET	SD	MIN
bondcrash	NYJ	PIT	SD	GB
Breesus Christ Superstar	ARI	DET	BAL	TB
cajuncommando58	CHI	TB	DET	HOU
Cajun in CA	NYJ	PIT	SD	BUF
coldpizza	SD	CLE	CAR	CHI
Dan Kelly	NE	DET	TEN	TB
devilducky	GB	PIT	TEN	MIN
Jay Preece	HOU	DET	SD	GB
jeff.l.b	HOU	NO	PIT	BUF
Jimbo03	HOU	DEN	BAL	NO
metryman	HOU	PIT	SD	GB
MiamiSaints	ARI	PIT	SD	CHI
mississippisaintsfan	DET	BUF	SD	NO
SaintsFanMD	SD	DAL	CAR	NO
sXe hXc AMF	HOU	NO	DAL	ATL
Tac Hammer	SD	NYJ	TEN	TB
theprogrammerman	HOU	NYJ	PIT	GB
Eliminated
BlackandGold4ever	ARI	BAL
Comp	SD	PIT	NYJ
cscmember	CAR
Dang Hu Dat	DEN
Dr.J	CLE
Fat Punk Kicker	TEN
FriarBob	ATL
GRIZZ	NYG
HB-NOLA	CLE
horp the reckless	HOU	–––
hrp	CLE
Joseph William Stern	CLE
jray2000	NE	–––
JRogers	TEN
KilnBill	ATL
mattxlegend	DEN
maybetoday	CLE
Northfan	KC
NorthStarr	SD	PIT	PHI
Ponysaints	CLE
saint_chew	DET	BUF	CIN
SaintsFanInIraq	PIT
SAINTS#12	CLE
SarahT	PIT
skinnykinney	KC
snowboard_kat	ATL
Valmo	NO
VAsaintsfan	KC
Wiedmann	CLE

Rules Recap:

1. Pick one NFL team each week to win a game. Your pick must be made at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the game in which your chosen team is playing.
2. If the team you pick loses, has a bye week, or if you fail to make a pick, you are eliminated.
3. You must pick a different team each week, no repeats.
4. The last player standing at the end of the season wins.
5. In case of a tie, i.e., every remaining player is eliminated in one week, the game continues with the same players the following week. At the end of the regular season, if there are multiple players left, play will continue through the playoffs. At that point, your picks are reset, i.e., you are allowed to pick a team you had picked during the regular season.
6. Due to the nature of the rules, entrants after week 1 cannot be allowed to join the game.

After the carnage in week 1, most entrants played it safe this week, with 13 of the remaining 25 picking the Steelers, Jets, or Lions (those teams beat their opponents by a combined score of 104-6). On the other hand, a few players had their nerves tested with wild finishes in Buffalo, Minnesota and San Francisco. Ultimately, only one entrant had a bad pick this week, but sadly, two others made no pick at all and also were eliminated.

I've moved all of eliminated players to the bottom of the table in an effort to make it easier to read. As always, make your picks below in the title/subject of a comment.

Player	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3
AcquiredPanic	PHI	GB	PIT
alcoholic_insight	HOU	DET	SD
bondcrash	NYJ	PIT	SD
Breesus Christ Superstar	ARI	DET	BAL
cajuncommando58	CHI	TB	DET
Cajun in CA	NYJ	PIT	SD
coldpizza	SD	CLE	CAR
Comp	SD	PIT	NYJ
Dan Kelly	NE	DET	TEN
devilducky	GB	PIT	TEN
Jay Preece	HOU	DET	SD
jeff.l.b	HOU	NO	PIT
Jimbo03	HOU	DEN	BAL
metryman	HOU	PIT	SD
MiamiSaints	ARI	PIT	SD
mississippisaintsfan	DET	BUF	SD
NorthStarr	SD	PIT	PHI
saint_chew	DET	BUF	CIN
SaintsFanMD	SD	DAL	CAR
sXe hXc AMF	HOU	NO	DAL
Tac Hammer	SD	NYJ	TEN
theprogrammerman	HOU	NYJ	PIT
Eliminated
BlackandGold4ever	ARI	BAL
cscmember	CAR
Dang Hu Dat	DEN
Dr.J	CLE
Fat Punk Kicker	TEN
FriarBob	ATL
GRIZZ	NYG
HB-NOLA	CLE
horp the reckless	HOU	–––
hrp	CLE
Joseph William Stern	CLE
jray2000	NE	–––
JRogers	TEN
KilnBill	ATL
mattxlegend	DEN
maybetoday	CLE
Northfan	KC
Ponysaints	CLE
SaintsFanInIraq	PIT
SAINTS#12	CLE
SarahT	PIT
skinnykinney	KC
snowboard_kat	ATL
Valmo	NO
VAsaintsfan	KC
Wiedmann	CLE

Rules Recap:

1. Pick one NFL team each week to win a game. Your pick must be made at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the game in which your chosen team is playing.
2. If the team you pick loses, has a bye week, or if you fail to make a pick, you are eliminated.
3. You must pick a different team each week, no repeats.
4. The last player standing at the end of the season wins.
5. In case of a tie, i.e., every remaining player is eliminated in one week, the game continues with the same players the following week. At the end of the regular season, if there are multiple players left, play will continue through the playoffs. At that point, your picks are reset, i.e., you are allowed to pick a team you had picked during the regular season.
6. Due to the nature of the rules, entrants after week 1 cannot be allowed to join the game.

UPDATE: I'm not putting up a reminder post this week because it would be sitting right next to this one in the fan post section.

Week 1 is in the books, and nearly half of the original 48 entrants were kicked off the island in a wild opening weekend - 23 to be exact, including yours truly. Check the table below for all of the carnage, and if you're still alive, post your pick in the comments below. Remember to put your team's name, and nothing else, in the comment title/subject line.

Also, the people have spoken and apparently very few like the idea of the no repeat rule continuing into the playoffs. There weren't many votes overall, but with the voting going more than 2-to-1 in favor of resetting the no repeat rule for the playoffs, I think it's fair to say that's what the majority wants. So be it.

Player	Week 1	Week 2
AcquiredPanic	PHI	GB
alcoholic_insight	HOU	DET
BlackandGold4ever	ARI	BAL
bondcrash	NYJ	PIT
Breesus Christ Superstar	ARI	DET
cajuncommando58	CHI	TB
Cajun in CA	NYJ	PIT
coldpizza	SD	CLE
Comp	SD	PIT
cscmember	CAR	out
Dang Hu Dat	DEN	out
Dan Kelly	NE	DET
devilducky	GB	PIT
Dr.J	CLE	out
Fat Punk Kicker	TEN	out
FriarBob	ATL	out
GRIZZ	NYG	out
HB-NOLA	CLE	out
horp the reckless	HOU
hrp	CLE	out
Jay Preece	HOU	DET
jeff.l.b	HOU	NO
Jimbo03	HOU	DEN
Joseph William Stern	CLE	out
jray2000	NE
JRogers	TEN	out
KilnBill	ATL	out
mattxlegend	DEN	out
maybetoday	CLE	out
metryman	HOU	PIT
MiamiSaints	ARI	PIT
mississippisaintsfan	DET	BUF
Northfan	KC	out
NorthStarr	SD	PIT
Ponysaints	CLE	out
saint_chew	DET	BUF
SaintsFanInIraq	PIT	out
SaintsFanMD	SD	DAL
SAINTS#12	CLE	out
SarahT	PIT	out
skinnykinney	KC	out
snowboard_kat	ATL	out
sXe hXc AMF	HOU	NO
Tac Hammer	SD	NYJ
theprogrammerman	HOU	NYJ
Valmo	NO	out
VAsaintsfan	KC	out
Wiedmann	CLE	out

Rules Recap:

1. Pick one NFL team each week to win a game. Your pick must be made at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the game in which your chosen team is playing.
2. If the team you pick loses, has a bye week, or if you fail to make a pick, you are eliminated.
3. You must pick a different team each week, no repeats.
4. The last player standing at the end of the season wins.
5. In case of a tie, i.e., every remaining player is eliminated in one week, the game continues with the same players the following week. At the end of the regular season, if there are multiple players left, play will continue through the playoffs. At that point, your picks are reset, i.e., you are allowed to pick a team you had picked during the regular season.
6. Due to the nature of the rules, entrants after week 1 cannot be allowed to join the game.

This is your weekly reminder post for the Elimination League. Below is a table of everyone's picks so far. If you haven't picked a team for this week, now would be a good time to do so.

There is some discussion of the no repeat rule during the playoffs on the original post. If you're interested, go there to read some of the issues and possible solutions. I've added a poll here to see if folks thinks we should have the no repeat rule reset for the playoffs, if it ever gets to that (which is not particularly likely).

Player	Week 1
AcquiredPanic	PHI
alcoholic_insight	HOU
BlackandGold4ever	ARI
bondcrash	NYJ
Breesus Christ Superstar	ARI
cajuncommando58	CHI
Cajun in CA	NYJ
coldpizza	SD
Comp	SD
cscmember	CAR
Dang Hu Dat	DEN
Dan Kelly	NE
devilducky	GB
Dr.J	CLE
Fat Punk Kicker	TEN
FriarBob	ATL
GRIZZ	NYG
HB-NOLA	CLE
horp the reckless	HOU
hrp	CLE
Jay Preece	HOU
jeff.l.b	HOU
Jimbo03	HOU
Joseph William Stern	CLE
jray2000	NE
JRogers	TEN
KilnBill	ATL
mattxlegend	DEN
maybetoday	CLE
metryman	HOU
MiamiSaints	ARI
mississippisaintsfan	DET
Northfan	KC
NorthStarr	SD
Ponysaints	CLE
saint_chew	DET
SaintsFanInIraq	PIT
SaintsFanMD	SD
SAINTS#12	CLE
SarahT	PIT
skinnykinney	KC
snowboard_kat	ATL
sXe hXc AMF	HOU
Tac Hammer	SD
theprogrammerman	HOU
Valmo	NO
VAsaintsfan	KC
Wiedmann	CLE

Rules Recap:

1. Pick one NFL team each week to win a game. Your pick must be made at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the game in which your chosen team is playing.
2. If the team you pick loses, has a bye week, or if you fail to make a pick, you are eliminated.
3. You must pick a different team each week, no repeats.
4. The last player standing at the end of the season wins.
5. In case of a tie, i.e., every remaining player is eliminated in one week, the game continues with the same players the following week. If, at the end of the season, there are multiple players left, play continues through the playoffs with the no repeat rule still in effect.
6. Due to the nature of the rules, entrants after week 1 cannot be allowed to join the game.

Perhaps I should have titled that "Help!!". I've never played fantasy football, but I've had an increasing interest the last few years. Last night, I decided to investigate all the details, but ended up accidentally joining a league. How does one accidentally join a league? Go to nfl.com and investigate the draft lobby. Once you click on the lobby, you are automatically placed in a queue to begin drafting immediately for a standard league. I was the tenth person in the queue, and blam - draft begins. When it happened I thought, "Whoops - oh well, I hadn't really planned on playing this year anyway." I just let it auto pick for me, figuring I probably wouldn't even follow it through the season.

Out of curiosity, I checked out my team today. It turns out it's not a complete nightmare, so now I think I'll go ahead and try this thing. Here's the roster that was auto-picked for me:

starters:
QB: Peyton Manning (bwaaahahahahahaha!)
RB: Chris Johnson (nice! 4th pick overall)
RB: Michael Turner (stomach turning, but I suppose he'll be productive)
RB: Matt Forte
WR: Dwayne Bowe
WR: Wes Welker
TE: Vernon Davis
K: Stephen Gostkowski
DEF: Chicago Bears

bench:
QB: Matt Cassel
RB: Brandon Jacobs
RB: Mike Tolbert
RB: Jonathon Stewart
WR: Deion Branch
WR: Roy Williams (really? really?)

Needless-to-say, I got hosed with the QBs. Clearly the system went crazy with the RBs. Drew Brees was drafted (by my week 1 opponent no less) right after Turner. Arrgh. My WRs aren't horrible, but I definitely feel like I need an upgrade.

Naturally, my first move was to put Cassel in the starting lineup in place of Manning. I also have tentatively replaced Forte with Jacobs for this week. Then I put in a couple of waiver claims - Malcolm Floyd to replace Roy Williams, and Houston's defense for Jonathon Stewart. That second claim is mainly for this weekend - Houston's D should have a good day, and the Bears, while good in general, are going to be pushed hard by the Falcons. Depending on how well the Texans' D plays this week, I may keep them around for a while.

Obviously, I need to do something about QB, at least in the short term. The problem is that the best QBs available on waivers are Orton and Hasselbeck, neither of which is much of an upgrade over Cassel. So, my question to the local FF experts is this - what kind of trade would you suggest to help out my QB situation? I don't really know how FF gurus value trades. I'm thinking something like Michael Turner and Deion Branch for a very good FF QB, someone like Roethlisberger or Romo. I'd even consider moving Dwayne Bowe + a bench player for a really good QB. There's several good but not great WRs still available to replace Bowe, at least a few of whom could have surprisingly good seasons, notably Donald Driver. Honestly, though, I'd really like to trade Turner so I can avoid the horrible conflict of interest inherent in having such a prominent Falcons player on my roster.

I'm also thinking of replacing Vernon Davis. There's quite a few good TEs still available, including Shiancoe. I think Davis is one of the best TEs in the league, but given that he's playing for the 49ers with Alex Smith throwing to him, I'm not exactly optimistic about his FF value. McNabb to Shiancoe seems like a better bet, especially when looking at the Vikings WRs. Todd Heap, Aaron Hernandez, Jermaine Gresham, and Greg Olsen are also available.

So, what do you FF gurus think? Any suggestions, or should I just go with my initial thoughts last night and not bother even trying to compete with this team?

Welcome to the 2011 Canal Street Chronicles Elimination Pick 'Em League. This is a simple, weekly NFL pick 'em league that hopefully will be as fun as last year's game.

The rules are simple:

1. Pick one NFL team each week to win a game. Your pick must be made at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the game in which your chosen team is playing.
2. If the team you pick loses, has a bye week, or if you fail to make a pick, you are eliminated.
3. You must pick a different team each week, no repeats.
4. The last player standing at the end of the season wins.
5. In case of a tie, i.e., every remaining player is eliminated in one week, the game continues with the same players the following week. If, at the end of the season, there are multiple players left, play continues through the playoffs with the no repeat rule still in effect.
6. Due to the nature of the rules, entrants after week 1 cannot be allowed to join the game.

Each Tuesday, I'll make a post with the previous weekend's eliminations, and a table of each players' picks so far. Make your pick in the comments section, and I'll update the table throughout the week. You may change your pick during the week, but if you have a pick made within 30 minutes of the start of that team's game, that is your final pick. No exceptions. If enough people want it, I can also post a reminder later in the week noting who has yet to make their picks.

Cajun in CA ran an elimination pick 'em league last year, and he recently asked for someone to run one again this year. I can run it this year, but will likely need someone to substitute for me for one or two weeks. Jay Preece (who I believe won last year's game) has also volunteered to run it. (Jay - you are more than welcome to take this over if you like - I just wanted to get the initial post up today so we can get the game started before the season begins with as many players as possible.) Sign up below with interest, or better yet, your pick for week 1.

UPDATE: Judging from some of the picks, I thought I should clarify rule #2. The no repeat rule means that once you have picked a team to win, you cannot pick that team again for the rest of the season, including the playoffs if the game goes that long.

According to last night's edition of the Top 100 Players of 2011, the Saints have 5 players on the list. Since none of them have yet been named, that means that all of them are in the top 70. Is this surprising to you? It is to me. While there's no doubt that Drew Brees is going to land in the top 10 (maybe 15), who else from the New Orleans team ranks among the top 4% of NFL players? I can think of perhaps two or three, and for the last several hours I've been trying to figure out who else might be on the list. I think there are three "no-brainers", though I'm a bit surprised that all three would be above players like Greg Jennings and Joshua Cribbs. But do the Saints really have 5 players that are better than Mario Williams???? I've been trying to figure out who the fifth player is all night - and I want to hear who you folks think belongs there. Brees, Vilma, J. Evans, and maybe Nicks belong on the list. Who else could possibly be there? Does anyone here honestly think that Colston is a better receiver than Greg Jennings? Or that Will Smith is a better DE than Jared Allen? Is it really possible that the NFL players consider Reggie Bush a top 100 player, when the majority of Saints fans don't consider him even a top 40 player of the Saints?

There is a very good chance that by the end of week 16 the Saints will be locked into the 5th seed wildcard spot for the playoffs, with no chance of moving higher or lower. Assuming the Falcons beat Seattle this weekend, and the Saints beat the Falcons the next week, there are almost no scenarios in which the Saints would not be the 5th seed, even if the Saints were to lose to the Ravens this Sunday.

We already know that Coach Payton likes to rest his starters before the playoffs when he can, but this situation would present a somewhat different set of consequences. If the Saints rest their starters during week 17 and the Bucs end up winning that game, they almost would be assured of a playoff spot as the 6th seed wildcard. I wonder if that would change Payton's thinking on the issue. Would it make him more or less likely to rest guys? Or would the Bucs' situation not affect his decision at all?

To me, it seems like a no-brainer to rest as many starters as possible, and do nearly everything possible to lose against Tampa Bay if it gets them into the playoffs (short of blatantly throwing the game). Tampa Bay would be assured a lower draft pick, and more importantly, it would keep another cold weather team out of the playoffs. A likely playoff scenario in that case would be Tampa Bay losing on wildcard weekend, which would have the Saints playing Atlanta in the divisional round.

What do you think?

Update: As Mtn-Exile correctly points out below, if the Saints beat the Falcons, and the Saints and Falcons either both lose or both win this weekend, both teams would enter week 17 with the same record. In that case, the Saints would have a chance, however remote, to take the division. The chances of Atlanta losing to Carolina are so remote that I failed to consider that possibility. Ultimately the chance would be there, though, and would make this question academic. There is still a reasonable chance of being locked into the 5th seed. If Atlanta beats Seattle, and the Saints lose to the Ravens and then beat the Falcons, I think they are guaranteed the 5th seed regardless of what happens with the Giants, Eagles, Packers and Bears.

Poll

If the Saints are guaranteed to be the 5th seed in the playoffs, should they rest and even play soft to let Tampa Bay win in week 17?

47%

Sure - three NFC South teams in the playoffs would be great.

115 votes

38%

No way - don't ever give up a game to a division rival, even if it actually helps the Saints in the long run.

93 votes

14%

Depends - how good are the hamburgers in Raymond James Stadium?

34 votes

242 votes | Poll has closed

Once again, the league's proposal for an 18 game regular season is in the news. I originally wrote this article at the end of preseason and had intended to post it right then. I postponed it at the time, however, due to the short week and hoopla over the Saints home opener. With the league making its first detailed proposal to the NFLPA and Bill Polian suggesting it's already a fait accompli, now seems like a good time to dust this off.

One of the more convincing arguments against the NFL moving to a format of 2 preseason games and 18 regular season game is that at least four weeks of preseason are necessary to accomplish the training and talent evaluation provided by the current format. During preseason, players are trained for a long regular season with hopes of multiple post season games. The preseason also provides coaches and front office personnel a vehicle for evaluation of talent acquired in the offseason. That neither of these two goals can be properly attained with a two week preseason is one of the strongest arguments against changing the current format.

Poll

Are four preseason games necessary to ensure high quality games during the regular season?

44%

The first couple of weeks of the regular season are sloppy anyway, might as well reduce preseason to two games.

59 votes

51%

Four weeks is just enough to make sure the first regular season games aren't embarrassingly bad.

68 votes

3%

It's bad enough as it is - instead of reducing preseason to two games, they should revert to six.

5 votes

132 votes | Poll has closed

Continue reading this post »

The proposal of an 18 game season for the NFL has generated a lot of opinions and arguments, both in favor and against. Some of the arguments are intelligent, well articulated, and debatable. Some of the arguments, though, are a whole lot of horse shit, and that's being generous. It's the latter group of straw men that I want to quickly address here, so we can move on to the more important discussions without these distractions.

One of my favorite BS arguments against an 18 game schedule is how this is just another way for the NFL owners to line their pockets. Really? You mean the billionaire pro sports team owners' club is filled with greedy people? How do you think they got to be billionaires in the first place? More importantly, what exactly does the owners' (and players') greed have to do with whether or not an 18 game regular season will be more enjoyable for us? Nothing. Owners have always been greedy - look at the typical salary of players prior to free agency. The fact that owners are greedy in no way affects the quality of an 18 game season. It may affect your enjoyment of it if you long for the old days, when guys played just for the love of the game. But in that case, you should probably be more concerned about the players' greed and the fact that a rookie quarterback that's never taken a snap in the NFL can get a $50 million contract. If the commercialization of the NFL makes you sick, well, all I can say is, that's why it's called professional sports. Also, stay tuned, as I'm planning an entire article dedicated to greed and the NFL.

Another of the truly laughable arguments is that football should start in September, or that it will be too cold for regular season games in January, or too hot in August. I almost didn't even include this because it's so ridiculous, but I've seen variations on this theme too many times not to include it here. They already play football in August - it's called the preseason! And they already play in January - it's called the playoffs!

What about the history books and statistical records? In nearly every discussion of the 18 game season, someone always bring this up. Every single season record will be shattered and less meaningful. First of all, so what? Records, as they say, are meant to be broken. Does anyone think less of Marino's 5084 passing yards because it happened in a 16 game season instead of 14 or 12? Or do they think less of Tomlinson's 28 rushing touchdowns? I don't know any reasonable person who does. When we look at the record books, we take these things into account, and know that it's impossible to compare Brady's 50 TD passes to anything Unitas did, and not just because of the number of games they played in one season. Perhaps more importantly, though, the idea that every single season record will be broken is just not true. I seriously doubt anyone will ever break Night Train Lane's single season record of 14 interceptions (which he accomplished in 12 games! as a rookie!), even if they went to a 20 game season. There are in fact quite a lot of single season records, by both individuals and teams, that will remain standing for quite some time, if not forever.

Earlier this week, Carson Palmer said, "With 16 games, every game is important and therefore the fans are very into it ... I think if you go to 18, each game kind of loses a little bit of its significance." This is an oft-repeated argument against an expanded regular season. Some fans have gone so far as to compare it to MLB's 162 games, which is absolutely ridiculous. One game in an 18 game season is the same as 9 in a 162 game season. In other words, losing one football game would be the same as getting swept in three successive series in baseball. When that happens to a playoff hopeful team chasing a division leader in baseball towards the end of the season, their season is pretty much over (as it should be). Carson's point that each game loses a bit of significance, though, is at least mathematically correct. Each game of an 18 game season will be about 10% less "significant" than in a 16 game season. Of course, the same argument could be made about going from 14 to 16 games, or from 12 to 14 games, but I don't hear anyone pining for the good ol' days of a 12 game season. Practically speaking, every game will still be critical in getting to the playoffs. If anything, getting in to the playoffs will be harder. I would give good odds no team will ever make the playoffs with a 9-9 record, whereas teams with 8-8 records have done so numerous times (including the Saints). An extra two games will help separate the wheat from the chaff, and will give better teams just a little more time to prove it. After an 0-6 start behind Kerry Collins last year, Vince Young led the Titans to an 8-2 finish and just missed the playoffs. How much would they have loved another two games to beat out the Ravens or Jets for a wildcard spot? And considering how the Jets fell ass-backwards into the playoffs last year, would that really be a bad thing?

The Jet's entry into the playoffs last year brings me to the final silly argument against the 18 game season. (There may be others I'm either unaware of or are just so ridiculous as not to merit a mention.) Opponents claim that there will be more meaningless games at the end of the season when an undefeated team rests its players for as many as four or five weeks before the playoffs. Consider what that implies. Assuming a team were undefeated in their first 14 games, they could only afford to lose the last four if no other team in the conference had more than nine wins. The chances of the second best team in a conference being only 9-5 with four weeks left must be absurdly small. (I did a quick survey of #2 seeds since the division realignment, and only once has a team finished with fewer than 11 wins. That was the 2006 Saints, and they rested their starters and gave an easy win to Carolina in week 17.) The initial instinct of more games will mean more meaningless games at the end of the season isn't just wrong, I think it's very probably backwards. The addition of two games will make it less likely for a team to rest their starters for more than one, maybe two, weeks, because there are more games for others to catch up.

I've covered what I believe to be a series of straw man arguments against the 18 game season, and in the process I'm sure I've insulted some people, bruised some egos, and maybe even made myself look foolish in the process. Feel free to rake me over the coals and explain why any of these arguments are not just reasonable but correct. I won't it take it personally. But please, please, please, keep the comments on point, and don't bring up other arguments against the 18 game season (unless it's to point out another straw man). I promise, I will cover what I think are the legitimate arguments in upcoming articles.

In recent days, the idea of an 18 game season for the NFL has overtaken Haynesworth, Tebow, Bradford, Brady, Lombardi, and every other story named for an individual. It has bloated the comments sections of NFL.com, ESPN, FPT, every newspaper and sports outlet with an online presence, and even our own little corner of championship heaven here at CSC. Being an avid fan of the Saints and football in general, I can't stop myself from reading it all. Only now, I feel just moments from stabbing forks into my eyes. Man, I hate when that happens.

In my self-induced misery of studying this subject, I've found quite a few reality disconnects which only serve to increase my haze of mental pain. The most glaring disconnection with reality I've discovered is Roger Goodell and the NFL owners claiming how the fans are overwhelmingly crying out for an extended season and fewer preseason games. I have visited literally dozens of websites where this question is posed to fans and without fail the response is overwhelmingly against an expanded regular season. When I first ran into this kind of response, I chalked it up to an over-traditionalist, very vocal minority. Then I began to see the same kind of response in similar numbers and vehemence everywhere I looked. Just yesterday, I noticed the poll on wwltv.com, in which the respondents rejected an expanded season by a 2 to 1 margin. This is inline with numbers I've seen elsewhere.

How could the NFL management be so incredibly off in their perception of fan desires? Anyone that has watched preseason games and noticed the attendance rates would not have a hard time understanding it. With the exception of last night's game between the Colts and Packers, which looked to be an SRO affair, every camera shot of the stands during the preseason has shown dramatically empty stadia. And in case anyone has forgotten, this is a business - a business that requires putting butts in seats.

Reading the vitriol against Goodell and the owners about greed and destroying the integrity of the game and history books got me thinking though. As interested as I am in the delusional behavior of the NFL owners, I'm somehow more interested in the delusional opinions of 20 somethings that seem to have holographic memories of Sammy Baugh firing downfield passes in the 1937 championship game against da Bears.

Some of the arguments against an 18 game season I've read and heard from fans, players, and long established sports writers (I'm looking at you BAW) are simply laughable. Some are ill informed. Others are arguable. And lastly, one or two are actually convincing enough to listen to. I'm writing this as the first of several pieces in an attempt to distinguish between the facts, opinions, hand-waving, and down right bullshit I've seen in regards to an 18 game season for the NFL.

Let me say right here and now at the outset of this project that I'm not necessarily in favor of 18 games. My instinct leans that way, but I'm in no way convinced that it will improve my football experience any more than I am convinced that remaining at 16 games will preserve my love of the game. To put it as bluntly as possible, I'm no more convinced that 18 minutes in a Dutch bordello will be better than 16 minutes. Sometimes, splitting the uprights for the trophy is good no matter how many plays it took to get there.

 

This article turned out to be a bit more difficult to write than I expected for two similar reasons. The Saints offense has more play makers on the field for any given play than many teams have on their entire roster. Similarly, the Patriots 3-4 defense has several play making defenders that change their point of attack frequently, making it difficult to choose three or four players for individual matchups. All the same, I did find a few critical matchups that I think could make or break this game for the Saints. Before getting into individual matchups though, I want to point out (yell, scream, pray, beg, demand) that Payton needs to commit to the running game on Monday like he has never done before. I understand that Drew Brees is the best player on the field. But in this game the Saints rushing attack has a better chance of being consistently more successful than the passing game and needs to be used as more than just a mechanism for closing out games in the second half. Make the jump to find out why.

Continue reading this post »